A hydrogen fuel cell bus is coming to Paks, Hungary, for three days, as a demonstration within the “CEE Hydrogen Bus Roadshow” project. The bus will be part of the city’s public transport system during the pilot project, so anyone can have a ride.
When it comes to meeting growing demands for public transport and addressing environmental issues, hydrogen fuel cell (FC) buses offer significant potential. Throughout Europe, zero-emission buses, represent a constantly growing portion of public transport systems. Much of this adoption is in response to the political commitment to decarbonise transportation in line with the European Union’s 2050 net-zero agenda.
However, hydrogen buses have been mainly implemented in Western Europe so far. The goal of the “CEE Hydrogen Bus Roadshow” is to raise awareness of the potential of hydrogen technology across the CEE region in cities which seek to build their knowledge and experience by demonstrating FC buses in small fleets. The project provides a better understanding of the operation of zero-emission buses for transport companies, as well as local governance and the wider public.
The roadshow started last November in Tolmin, Slovenia and arrives to Hungary between 16-18 January. The project will also cover Poland and the Baltics as well as South-Eastern Europe.
The hydrogen fuel cell bus is provided by a Portuguese bus manufacturing company using Toyota’s fuel cell system. The so-called ‘H2.City Gold’ has a range of 400 kilometres and can be refuelled in under 9 minutes. This vehicle showcases both companies’ complementary technologies and engineering capabilities. A mobile refuelling station will also be following the bus roadshow.
The CEE Hydrogen Bus Roadshow is implemented under the JIVE 2 (Joint Initiative for hydrogen Vehicles across Europe 2) program, Europe’s most ambitious fuel cell bus project to date. All deployment locations share an ambition to increase the size of their hydrogen bus fleets following successful initial demonstrations, therefore the participating cities and regions will be natural locations for larger scale roll-out of the technology in the 2020s.
The project is organised in Hungary by HUMDA Green and the Hungarian Hydrogen and Fuel Cell Association.
